Out of This World – A Starry Styled Shoot in Long Beach

This starry styled shoot was so beautiful and creative, we knew it would be perfect for the blog after seeing just one photo from the collection. Ariele Chapman, an amazingly talented photographer and writer, wrote a short story about the crew’s inspiration so we’ll let her do the talking!

“The inspiration behind the day was brought on by one simple quote I loved. “That Every Soul Has a Star.” I became obsessed with that quote when thinking about this shoot. I also have always had such a passion for space and constellations, and the origin of each one. Greek Mythology to me is so beautiful, and all those stories represent some kind of love. So I wanted to focus on the stars aligning for love to form. I wanted to play with the idea of love being in the stars, that when we are born, our soulmate is waiting for us to find them, and in return they are searching for us too.

I worked with an incredible team of women to bring this shoot to life. We decided instead of one moon at the alter, we’d do the phases of the moon on stands. We wanted to symbolize the phases of love, much like the phases of the moon, or even the life of a star. Littlebrownnsuitcase came up with a way to display the phases of the moon, and then we had beautiful flowers by Love Her Madly covering the stands. Phases are something so common in our life, that to incorporate them during this shoot was everything. We grow just how the galaxy expands.

We decided to use a Howl in Long Beach as our venue.Their space is diverse, modern, and chic. We wanted a venue that had concrete walls, as well as a more modern feel to it. It really brought out our design choices. We also felt that the concrete wall reminded us of the imperfections on the moon and in a way, dark matter. “Friar Tux gave us a beautiful blue tux, which really brought out the sky blue in the dress by Allure, given to us by Mary Me Bridal. The salon also lended us an incredible silver star gown by Watters for the second half of the shoot. Bride Kadin and groom Benjamin were stunning and full of energy!”

“We had a ton of incredible DIY projects as well. We had Littlebrownnsuitcase design the denim jackets, the tapestries, the seating cards, and as previously stated, the moon alter. We had a calligrapher, Letter and Ink make all the initiations and menu cards. I designing the plates, because I had a vision I couldn’t find anywhere else. Our lovely florist, Love Her Madly, made beautiful pieces for the tables and the bouquet was like a nebula in the sky. We wanted to bring out some of the colors you’d see with a real star, a real galaxy, and bring a type of dream like state to the flowers.

Great Dane Baking Co. did an incredible job giving us a cake that reminded us of a delicious meteor, and if anyone is wondering…yes the inside was indeed Funfetti. Haute Sweets Baking Co, made us the “connect the constellation cookies, which were delicious and dainty enough for detail shots of the rings!

Modi Supply supplied incredible retro and modern furniture to give us all the feels. She worked with us on bringing the vibe we wanted to the tablescape, and the ceremony space. The makeup artist, Hair and Makeup by Sydney, gave us those modern Jetson vibes with the makeup that makes us all want to pull off those looks everyday. SG Hair Artistry, did the most perfect wedding hair, edgy, romantic, and so unique. I want to employ her to do my hair everyday! Who is with me?”

“My advice for brides planning now is don’t limit yourself, if you have a style in mind, TRY IT! It’s okay to be different, it’s okay to have a moon alter instead of a wooden alter, it’s okay to have fun and unique wedding hair and glitter stars on your face if that’s something you love. If you want your wedding table to be a space rocket, then make it the best darn space rocket you’ve ever seen. Find some incredible vendors who love your vision or round up your craftiest friends to help you!

Weddings should be everything you dreamt of. They should be magical. They should be “Out of this World.”